Guided Tour by Bicycle

　　Something has been booming in the past several years in my prefecture; The number of cyclists is increasing remarkably. My prefecture, Ehime, and Hiroshima prefecture are connected by a series of eleven bridges. I'll show you the website and I hope you'll see it. These bridges compose a part of the highway called "Shimanami Kaido", and they are getting popular across the country because these bridges are equipped with bicycle paths. You can cross the bridge as fast or slow as you want on foot or by bicycle. One of the giant companies manufacturing bicycles, GIANT from Taiwan, is going to set up its flagship store in Imabari City, which is the Ehime-side terminal point of Shimanami Kaido. I hope that lots of people from overseas visit here and enjoy the scenery of Seto Inland Sea.

　　I joined a guided tour today. With several guides, I'm free from feelings of anxiety such as injury, flat tires, unexpected physical problem and so on. Additionally they weave some amusement into the tour. I enjoyed cooking pizza myself on the way this time. There is an old shrine on the way, and I bought three charms called "helmet charms", which are getting popular.

　　I almost forgot, I met the mayor of Imabari City on the way. I'm happy to know that he is also a cyclist.

P.S. The CEO of GIANT visited Ehime to see Shimanami Kaido and announced that Shimanami would be a paradise for cyclists. I agree.

Shimanami Kaido:
http://www.go-shimanami.jp/global/english/index.html

The today's route:
http://kumo.typepad.jp/wadachi/Shimanami2012_05_06.html

(Vocabulary)
boom 《[自]通例進行形で》〈関心・人気が〉急に高まる
weave sth into sth ＜計画など＞を＜…＞に織り込む
Weave some time alone into your routine. 一人になる時間を日常に織り込んでおきなさい．